Ginny Weasley: Before Hogwarts
by StrangerousThings
Summary: Short oneshot about Ginny Weasley's life before Hogwarts, potentially a series of moments throughout her teenage years at Hogwarts.
1. Chapter 1

_AN: This is just a little something I came up with while I was a bit bored. It might be a oneshot, I might continue it and make it a sort of disjointed series of moments from Ginny's life that we didn't previously know about. Enjoy! -StrangerousThings_

Ginny Weasley hated her brothers.

Deep down she didn't really hate them, she knew that. But at the moment she _hated_ Percy and Fred and George and most of all Ron, because they were at Hogwarts and she was not.

They were at Hogwarts and she was at home, helping her mother earn enough to replace the money that had gone into the boys' schoolbooks and robes and Ron's wand and all the other million things that the Weasley family could never possibly afford.

And at the moment that help meant making all the meals, while she watched her mother cooking for other families for up to 12 hours a day and her father come home later than 11 most nights.

Not to mention the fights. Ginny's parents were usually good-tempered, particularly when they had guests, but Ginny knew that their circumstances were getting to them, Arthur and Molly both.

When they fought, Ginny would run away.

She would come back within the hour, of course. It was always night time when they fought, so it was dark. The wheat fields, golden by day, were sinister at night. She would hide there though, and hold her precious things; a pearl-handled hairbrush her mother had given her when she was six and a silver hand mirror.

Ginny supposed she couldn't really complain. At least this was the last year. Even though she knew her parents would be stretched even further without her there to help around the house, she felt a savage sort of pleasure at the idea of finally escaping the Burrow.

It had been 2 months since Ron and the boys had left for school, and Ginny was used to the early starts by now. She tiptoed downstairs; her mother and father were asleep, and waking them at 5 in the morning would have meant only 6 hours of sleep. Her parent almost always fought in the evening if they were tired.

Ginny yawned widely as she started cooking the food that her mother would Floo to other wizarding families; typically filthy rich purebloods who couldn't be bothered to cook and didn't have a house elf. She cooked some oats for her own family and walked outside to gaze at the sunrise. No matter how many times she had seen it, the sunrise over the hills never failed to amaze Ginny. Every part of her 10-year old body yearned for the sky, and she was considering just dropping her breakfast and running for the shed—but then common sense kicked in. Plenty of time for that later.

After about an hour of cooking, Ginny ran up the rickety stairs and knocked on her parent's bedroom door. This was enough to wake them; she could hear her mother and father stirring inside.

Ginny walked back down the stairs and laid the breakfasts out for her mother. It wasn't long before Molly appeared in the kitchen. She walked over and kissed Ginny on the head. "Thank you, sweetheart. Go on, you're done for the morning." Ginny kissed her mother on the cheek and sprinted barefoot out of the house. "Wear shoes!" Molly called, watching her go. Her smile was just a little sad but she chuckled quietly as she sat at the stained wooden table.

Ginny ran across the grass, her pale feet cold and muddy. Bursting through the door of the broom shed she brushed off the cobwebs and grabbed the Weasleys' better spare broom. Walking back out onto the grass and shutting the door, Ginny caressed the smooth wood as she always did. Mounting the broom, a thrill of excitement shot through her, as it always did. And as she always did, Ginny flew.

She flew without abandon, diving and looping and skimming over the grass and soaring high into the air and letting herself fall and catching herself just before she hit the ground. Ginny skimmed over the grass, her toes wet with the cold morning dew.

She practiced with two quaffles at a time, throwing them both in the air and trying to catch them both. She swung bats at fake bludgers, trying to hit them as far as possible and aiming for targets. She chased tiny sparrows and tried to grasp them for just a second, following the dips and swirls of the birds. She flew like she would never fly again.

And for just a few hours a day, Ginny Weasley was free.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Well, here you go. I did write a second moment, it was way too fun to let go of. Hope you like it and let me know if you want another! -StrangerousThings**

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Ginny woke to the sound of her mother yelling.

Although she couldn't catch the words she was very fine-tuned to the frequencies of Molly Weasley's temper and Ginny knew immediately she was angry at the boys. Fred and George, most likely, with perhaps a hint of Ron. She yawned widely, stretched her arms and sat up in bed, grinning widely. Today marked 2 weeks before the beginning of the school term, and there was nothing Ginny looked forward to more.

Ginny slid out of bed, her pale skin bare and slightly sweaty from another hot summer night. Slipping on a tank top and shorts, she padded down the stairs to the kitchen. The yelling had stopped now, and the clatter of cutlery on plates was the only sound that could be heard. Ginny wondered vaguely what it was that the three youngest Weasley boys had done to irritate their mother so early in the morning.

Jumping down to just above the landing, Ginny surveyed the room, assessing whether it was safe to enter. As her eyes scanned the room her heart skipped a beat, then started beating extremely fast as if it was trying to catch up. There, sitting right in front of her in the kitchen was Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, the saviour of the Wizarding world, the subject of her—well, Harry Potter. His dark hair was messy perfection, his green eyes bottomless and his angular face beautiful in a way that only Ginny felt only she could truly appreciate.

Ginny retreated quickly to the upper landing, composing herself. She had heard about everything that Ron had got up to with Harry last year, and drew from it an understanding of his courage and honour. So, something striking, that could paint her in a heroic light; this was essentially first contact, as the only words they'd exchanged previously were "Good luck" from her and a "thanks" from him.

Ginny ventured back down the stairs, rolling up her shorts slightly to allow a little more leg exposure. A cool opening statement, nothing more… She was in the kitchen now. She had been right, Fred, George and Ron were sitting at the table with her mother and father. She opened her mouth to speak, just as Harry met her eyes. All sense left Ginny's brain as she connected with Harry. A high-pitched squeal escaped her and Ginny clamped her mouth shut. All systems inside Ginny were screaming ABORT! ABORT! She tried to salvage the situation with a clever quip, opening her mouth, then closing it again, then opening it again until she realised that she looked like a fish. Ginny fled up the stairs, tears springing in her eyes.

Wordlessly pushing past Perc y on the staircase, Ginny ran to her room and slammed the door. Jumping onto her bed and burying her head in the covers, she composed herself. Even if she had just made a complete arse of herself in front of Harry Potter, there was still room to manoeuvre. If she couldn't present an image of cool confidence, maybe the damsel in distress was better… yes, that would work, especially given the year difference between them. Ginny started rehearsing in her head. Something she could do to allow Harry to save her…

An hour later, Harry and the boys had finished breakfast and Ginny heard them making plans for Quidditch in the Burrow's Muggle-warded backyard. Checking the hallway, first, she deemed it safe to go downstairs for breakfast, shovelling porridge and toast as quickly as possible before getting changed into something more suitable for the very rough variety of backyard Quidditch that the Weasleys played. Slipping on a too-small hand-me-down shirt from one of the boys and daisy dukes, Ginny jumped out of her window on the third level of the Burrow and landed lightly on the ground. Being able to use magic at home was one of the things Ginny would miss once she was at Hogwarts.

Running down to the broom shed, she found the boys arguing over teams. The twins turned to her when she arrived. "Go away Ginny, we're playing Quidditch." Fred said irritably. Ginny responded by kicking him in the shin and darting past him to the shed where she grabbed her father's Silver Arrow, then ran out onto the grass, mounted the broom and kicked off into the air. The figures below her shrunk rapidly as she soared above them, intentionally flying poorly; as her plan required her to.

The others soon joined her in the air and George tossed a Quaffle up. Ginny was closest, and she raced upwards to catch the red ball at the zenith of its arc. She leant forward to catch it, carefully rolling sideways—and suddenly she was falling, the wind whipping her hair, heart beating—just before she hit the ground Ginny used magic to cushion the fall. Despite the painless drop, Ginny screamed loudly for someone to help her, secretly hoping that Harry was coming to her aid—

Nope. All four boys touched down on the grass and started running towards her. Fred took one look at Ginny, grasped her arm and pulled her to her feet. "She's fine, guys." he said loudly to the others. "I told you." Fred punched Ginny in the shoulder and said to her "Seriously, stop doing that. Haven't you ever heard of the boy who cried werewolf? Just go back inside Ginny, this is a boy's game." Jumping back on his broom, Fred flew back up to where the others were waiting.

Too furious with Fred to think of her "damsel in distress" plan, Ginny picked the Silver Arrow up off the ground where it had fallen close to her. Mounting the broom, Ginny accelerated upwards until she was level with the boys again. The Quaffle was in play, passing quickly from hand to hand, Fred and George easily dominating Harry and Ron. Just as Fred prepared to score, tossing the ball in the air, Ginny intercepted its path, securing it under her arm and executing a perfect hairpin turn in mid-air. Both twins looked stunned that their goal had been taken so violently from under their noses, and even more so when Ginny, ducked and weaved past the arms of George and sped towards their goal. Drawing her well-practiced arm back with the Quaffle in hand, Ginny soared past the makeshift hoop goal and slammed the ball through, eliciting cheers from Ron and Harry and a dumbfounded silence from Fred and George.

"Good goal!" Ron shouted and Ginny beamed, flying back to where Ron and Harry were hovering in the air.

"Yeah. That was excellent Ginny." Harry said, causing Ginny to flush through about 50 shades of red.

All of a sudden Ginny thought that these two weeks with Harry at the Burrow could last as long as they wanted.


End file.
